1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to an X-ray image sensor wherein incident X-rays are converted into optical signals and the optical signals are subsequently converted into corresponding electrical signals.
2. Description of the Prior Art
X-ray images can be produced by an X-ray image sensor having a planar electronic image converter (for example, a CCD) preceded by a scintillator functioning as a luminescent screen. The image converter is optically coupled to the scintillator and generates image signals from which an image of the examined region of a patient can be electronically generated. Image converters that can be currently realized, however, have limited dimensions, so that images of large subjects can be acquired only as a result of complicated structural design, especially of the fiber optics that conducts the light from the scintillator onto the image converter.